Boulder Bay Eco Resort

Ringed by granite boulders worn smooth by tide, the bays here give the island its name. Nga Khin Nyo Gyee, known locally as Boulder Island, sits among the westernmost outcrops of Myanmar's Mergui Archipelago, a scatter of over 800 islands off the Tanintharyi coast, most still without any settlement. The resort keeps a light footprint on 135 hectares of jungle, mangrove and rock, reachable only by boat from Kawthaung. Two trails, Moken Bay and Bamboo Bay, cross the island through screw pine and fishtail palm. It is a short walk to Eagle Rock, a lookout over almost the whole island. Water clarity holds through the dry season, and the reef beyond the tideline shelters juvenile fish, soft coral and anemone colonies. You can hear the White-Bellied Sea Eagle and Brahminy Kite calling from the cliffs above camp. Bungalows face the sea, set back from boulders that shelter the shallows at low tide. The reef top exposed by the tide is fragile ground, home to coral, crustaceans and young fish, and guides advise walking it with care. Boulder Island has no fixed roads or vehicles. Its two freshwater sources, a rain-fed pond and a small spring, support the mangrove stand on the western shore and the drier scrub to the east. Nights on the veranda run to cicadas and surf.